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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24528088">The Other Cadis</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_of_the_Ruckus/pseuds/Queen_of_the_Ruckus'>Queen_of_the_Ruckus</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Other Cadis [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Noblesse (Manhwa)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:26:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,547</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24528088</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_of_the_Ruckus/pseuds/Queen_of_the_Ruckus</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>820 years after Raizel goes missing, someone walks into Frankenstein's office.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cadis Etrama Di Raizel &amp; Frankenstein (Noblesse), Cadis Etrama di Raizel/Frankenstein (Noblesse)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Other Cadis [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878715</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>56</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Somebody Else</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Frankenstein paused on his way to the familiar shelter of his work, looking up into the sky. Clouds swirled strangely, ozone mingling with the light scents of earth and flowers and humans. He breathed in deeply, closing his eyes as the first gentle drops of rain fell across his skin, dappling the pale pavement and sending the students scurrying. </p><p> </p><p>His shoulders relaxed as he exhaled, almost slumping in his relief. <em> Just a storm.  </em></p><p> </p><p>The ghost of a smile tugged at his lips, and he stood still for a long moment. Savoring the growing breeze, allowing the cool droplets to bead up and roll off his face, to weigh down his hair and clothes. It cleansed him, renewing him in small ways. Tied him down to reality.</p><p> </p><p>His eyes flashed open as the raindrops abruptly ceased to fall, view obstructed by darkness, the pattering of water on nylon taffeta replacing the temporary quiet in his mind. A polite plastic grin split his face as he turned to thank Yuna for her kindness in sharing her umbrella. A few short steps into the building and they parted ways. He was once again dry as he entered his office, sinking heavily into his chair.</p><p> </p><p>Long fingers rubbed at his temples. The storm now rattled at his windows and roughed up YeRan’s primly trimmed trees. His mind ticked through a number of remedies for mending broken limbs and repairing what damage may come before he remembered that it wasn’t his job. </p><p> </p><p>His job was heaped up before him, gleamingly white, angular, and vaguely sharp around the edges. He smiled faintly again, slipping into his pet fantasy as he began sifting through the paperwork that had somehow managed to pile up between last night and this morning. </p><p> </p><p>His Master was here with him, almost a ghost at the edges of his vision. Sometimes they enjoyed tea in his office, sometimes Raizel attended classes amongst the best selection of young humans anywhere. Perhaps he learned to smile and laugh with ease. </p><p> </p><p>Perhaps they could start again, free from Lukedonian responsibilities.</p><p> </p><p>Lost completely in his fondest coping mechanism, Frankenstein turned back to gaze out his window. His Master stood before it, silhouetted in his mind. He could almost define the interplay of light and shadow at the edges of his hair, could almost imagine he was close enough to touch. He smiled, genuine and tired.</p><p> </p><p>Thunder cracked and lightning flashed almost as one, illuminating everything for a moment in harsh white and black, rattling the glass.</p><p> </p><p>Frankenstein blinked, the spell broken. His eyes swept the courtyard once again, seeking anything that might require immediate attention or present an obstacle to his students as they left for the day. His maintenance staff was top-notch and would handle any problems as they arose. </p><p> </p><p>His brow furrowed as he noticed the gate to the school, wide and swinging when it hadn’t been before. Or perhaps it had simply escaped observation, as he’d been focused on the trees. It did not matter. He would send someone out to secure it. Or he would slip outside himself, to preserve his staff from having to grapple with it in the downpour.</p><p> </p><p>He rose from his chair even as the atmosphere grew heavy around him, a pressure settling over his mind and his body. <em> How strange. </em></p><p> </p><p>The door to his office opened of its own accord, the latch turning easily, the heavy oaken door swinging smoothly on well-oiled hinges. </p><p> </p><p>Frankenstein’s breath left him, his heartbeat hammering loudly in his ears.</p><p> </p><p>A slim dark figure stepped into the room, clad in Lukedonian black and gold. His Master’s face had changed, his hair adopting a soft wave. The differences stood out to him sharply as he rushed to feel his Master in his soul, throwing wide their bond. </p><p> </p><p>Hope curdled abruptly in his heart. He felt nothing more of Raizel than he had for the last eight hundred and twenty years. Perhaps less, as new energies seemed to seep into his skin.</p><p> </p><p>His body shifted, his strong mental barriers rising up in response to the invasive touch of power. The hair rose on his arms, following a wave of goosebumps. Sharp fangs slid into view as he instinctively reached to break his beloved Master’s seal.</p><p> </p><p>The stranger with his Master’s face - no, the subtle differences now screamed at him - stared at him in silence. Observing impassively.</p><p> </p><p>At last Frankenstein broke the silence, his voice almost choked with the weight of possibilities and what he did not know.</p><p> </p><p>“Who are you?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Power Play</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bristling but cautious, Frankenstein stared into the eyes of the first Noble he’d encountered in centuries. Waiting for an answer that did not come as he took in every detail of this alarmingly familiar stranger. His own pulse beat deafeningly in his ears, the storm outside forgotten.</p><p> </p><p>He breathed deeply of the strangely heavy air, forcing himself to relax and leave Dark Spear’s seal intact. He would not risk violence at YeRan.</p><p> </p><p>He might have expected the immense pressure sweeping over and immobilizing his body if this had been almost any other Noble, but somehow he could not bring himself to make such assumptions here. Not of someone who so closely resembled--</p><p> </p><p>The breath left him in unwarranted shock as the Noble began to pry at his mind, an attack he would have feared more than death in another life. Even now, his own force of will was not enough to protect everything. He focused all his efforts on keeping what he considered to be most important out of reach, allowing the intruder free access to his knowledge of such subjects as high school bureaucracy and gardening techniques. </p><p> </p><p>“<em>Your behavior is extremely rude. Is that why Cadis Etrama di Raizel never spoke of you?” </em></p><p> </p><p>The dark, willowy <em> not-Raizel </em> seemed to drop his attempt at ripping knowledge directly from his mind for the moment. Instead, he crossed the room, stopping only once they were face to face, close enough to touch. Too close for comfort. Like his Master, this man provided no scent of his own, not even that of the rain he had undoubtedly walked through just moments before. One graceful hand, lily-white and delicate, reached out and touched his face, tilting it back. Then, grasping a long lock of hair loosely between his fingers, he held it aloft and inspected it in the warm light of Frankenstein’s office.</p><p> </p><p>His expression turned sour. “I see my dear Raizel has been tempted and used.” The deceptively familiar gaze held such violent contempt that Frankenstein was forced to fight the impulse to drop to his knees and repent on the spot. “Tell me, how did you deceive him?”</p><p> </p><p><em> My? Deceive? </em> Frankenstein’s ire and curiosity flared up increasingly with every passing moment, his skin crawling at the harshly punctuated words, his answer commanded by a voice that was not so different from Raizel’s soft, radiant one. </p><p> </p><p>Free now to speak, he put voice to the next question burning in his queue. "How did you find me?" </p><p> </p><p>The stranger slapped him across the face.</p><p> </p><p>Frankenstein staggered, then straightened. The hair fell back from his face as he glared back at this arrogant imposter. Blood trickled from a rapidly mending cut in the corner of his mouth, now pulled up into a sharp grin. This was the first genuine clue to his Master’s whereabouts that he'd had in 800 years. He wasn't <em> about </em>to let this go.</p><p> </p><p>They glared into each other’s eyes as the long minutes ticked away in silence. Sweat trickled down Frankenstein’s skin as he threw himself into resisting the stranger’s now-blatant and undisguised attempts at mind control, holding his soul closed with every ounce of his immense stubbornness and pride. Finally, he drew upon the strength that his Master had left with him in conjunction to his own, flaring it in an effort to break free.</p><p> </p><p>At the brush of Raizel’s warmth, the Noble immediately dropped his attack. The lovely face twisted with a strange mixture of disgust and pain. "You dared to take such a large piece of him for yourself? I will tear you apart for scrap and shove it back down his throat.” Painfully familiar pressure once again closed around Frankenstein, holding him still. “But in the meantime, I will make you useful." </p><p> </p><p>Brandishing Raizel’s power like a talisman, Frankenstein repelled his captor far enough to voice the only question he could think of in light of the circumstances, the only question that mattered. His eyes were wild and bordering on desperate as he stared down furious red. “You sensed Cadis Etrama di Raizel in our bond and followed it to me. Do you think you can find my Master as well?" </p><p> </p><p>"An animal running for safety with its tail between its legs." He dropped the strands of golden hair only to swipe an elegant finger over the trickle of drying blood. "I can guess at how you won him over."</p><p> </p><p>He touched his finger to delicate lips, perfect and pale against the garish smudge of Frankenstein’s bright blood. </p><p> </p><p>Frankenstein’s knees buckled, the rush of power intoxicating. A damn breaking loose, a river crashing down on top of him. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Gift Horse</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This was not the first time he'd felt such an oppressive weight of power bearing down upon his soul. In some of his fonder memories, now bubbling unbidden to the surface, he had engaged in such play with his Master. At the time he had reveled in it. </p><p> </p><p>Now he was revolted. His blood boiled and his heart beat thunderously, primal fears colliding with his deepest hate. He shattered his Master’s seal on reflex, Dark Spear surging forth manically, even as Raizel's powers fully awakened within. His soul lashed out with raw black hatred as he lost piece upon piece of himself to that prying red haze, jealously guarding his bond from this stranger, withholding it even beyond himself. He burned brightly, feverish. Raizel's powers unfurled within him like a rose, expanding and filling him. His own life burned away like kindling as he vainly struggled against the foreign energies of this invasive Noble. </p><p> </p><p>The Noble's eyes widened slightly and he dropped the assault.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>The next thing Frankenstein noticed were the hundreds of course carpet fibers digging into his cheek, and the crisp close-up of a desk leg materializing inches from his face. The thoughts tearing through his head were not his own.</p><p> </p><p><em>W</em> <em>e curse you, Frankenstein. </em></p><p> </p><p>Tight muscles immediately relaxed before his mind finally kicked in. Why was his Lover's intrusion a relief? Hadn't his Master-</p><p> </p><p>His blood ran cold, the situation flooding back to him. He was still himself, as far as he could tell. He was still in his office. Upon inspection, his soul felt almost… tingly, for lack of a better word. <em>Violated</em>. Waves of nausea washed over him at the thought. </p><p> </p><p>Frankenstein pushed himself up onto his hands and knees before forcing himself to stand.</p><p> </p><p>"Come." The single word cut through him, not through his soul as his Master's would, but through his very reality. Frankenstein blinked, his face frozen in flat disbelief. </p><p> </p><p>The Noble had turned its back on him, and now seemed to be waiting in the doorway for him to follow. </p><p> </p><p>Words failed him, and entire countries had seen their rise and fall since such a momentous feat had last been accomplished. But he did not feel the weight of command that a bond provided, and he dearly wished for this confrontation to be taking place anywhere except his beloved Ye Ran while the children were in school. </p><p> </p><p>He swallowed his pride and followed. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Trinket</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was not exactly a surprise that he found himself led unerringly to his own home. Not after this stranger had parsed through his own head so deliberately. </p><p> </p><p>As he followed, his mind a thousand miles from the situation at hand, Frankenstein searched for clues within himself - any indication that he had been altered. Though in truth, he had significant doubts as to whether he'd be able to tell. </p><p> </p><p>If nothing else, the bond was still present, and he cradled it in his soul as he always had. Like something small and delicate, not unlike a hatchling still breaking free from its shell. Like something that would grow to become beautiful, if only he was attentive. He pushed a bit of, "<em> I'm still here. I'm still waiting for you. I will find you </em>," through the silence, a litany repeated uncounted times in Sir Raizel's absence. </p><p> </p><p>The pale imitation of his Master paused briefly at this, turning away from Frankenstein’s threshold and meeting his gaze. Nothing discernable passed between them, and the older Noble (or at least taller, by Frankenstein’s estimation) turned wordlessly back to deactivate the locks with a gesture. </p><p> </p><p>Frankenstein closed the door behind them, seating it with a deliberate click, the sound resonant in the otherwise silent house.</p><p> </p><p><em> Finally</em>. </p><p> </p><p>Free from the threat of innocent casualties, Dark Spear was finally allowed to race through Frankenstein’s veins and flow from his palms. Contaminating the space around him as invisible hands sifted through silken hair, clawed and caressed at pale skin. Errant voices and emotions flowed through him and mingled, filling him with a toxic <em> humanity. </em>An inconvenience, at least, should this stranger decide to intrude on him again. "You have my thanks, now shall we continue? I believe I had voiced a few questions, and I'd be remiss if they were to go unanswered."</p><p> </p><p>"Are you not capable of following simple commands? My brother seems to have given you but two." The Noble continued on as though the house itself was not his destination, gliding gracefully toward Frankenstein’s hidden elevator. </p><p> </p><p>Guilt cut him like his Lover. But so did the word <em> brother,</em> uttered so casually. So his Master had not always been alone? </p><p> </p><p>Frankenstein paused, shaking himself off and grounding himself further in Dark Spear's bite. This creature <em> knew </em> him now, clearly knew how to get at him, just as he knew the location of his home and the code to his locks. But he was not one to be stopped with insults and breadcrumbs. Not when he might at last succeed in finding what had become of his Noblesse. </p><p> </p><p>Without bothering to swap out his shoes, he followed his enemy into his elevator, riding it down in silence as the numbers on the display ticked deeper and deeper. </p><p> </p><p>They dipped past labs and archives. Past deeply shielded practice rooms and well-stocked panic rooms. When they finally disembarked, it was to the quiet bottom floor. Soothingly lit, and eerily reminiscent of the Noblesse's own basement. </p><p> </p><p>It contained only a handful of carefully curated items, polished and maintained to a startling degree. Atop a low pedestal that might have conceivably held something much larger, lay four trinkets. Carefully arranged fragments of pale shattered porcelain. A tea cup, shining and perfect. The pieces of a broken earring, its links laid out as they had been while still connected. Its pristine twin lay next to it, still cradled in its original black box. </p><p> </p><p>Even Dark Spear quieted down in the strangely thick atmosphere. </p><p> </p><p>Bright rubies dimmed briefly as a shadow slipped over them. The Noble's hand hovered above the burnished silver of Raizel's broken seal, a small frown creasing his face. </p><p> </p><p>The black box snapped shut in Frankenstein’s quick hand, and he tucked it away into his blazer. "That's not yours to take, I'm afraid." His smile was sharp as he gestured his uninvited guest back the way they had come. </p><p> </p><p>The dark figure straightened, his expression inscrutable once more. "You may carry it if you wish." </p><p> </p><p>The elevator ride back up to the main house was almost painfully drawn-out, despite Frankenstein’s machinery being aggressively modern and therefore as fast as was physically safe.</p><p> </p><p>Both faced forward, unmoving and silent. Frankenstein ticked through the short list of necessary arrangements he would like to see to before his impending absence. It seemed as though he might finally be going somewhere. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. An Aside</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>In the depths of Lagus Tradio's private quarters there stood a carefully concealed shrine of sorts, safeguarded from the prying eyes of his unworthy associates. Upon it rested the hopes and aspirations of the leader of a failed coup, a rejection of the new ways of an old, dead Lord. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Two items had been retrieved from the long vacant House of the Noblesse in the last act of a bloody conflict. They were beyond price, beyond compare. Well worth the failure of leaving Raskreia to live for a few hundred more years. One day they would produce for him a God. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The coffin atop the old Noble's pedestal was now open and empty. The unholy piece of glimmering red was nowhere to be found. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The old man was gone as well. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Stopping Traffic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Frankenstein had abandoned more homes and aliases than he would care to remember. In less than five minutes, his house had been sufficiently locked down and the school had received his pre-packaged excuses. If and when he returned, he would salvage what he wished of his possessions and move on. This haven was no longer secure.</p><p> </p><p>All the while he fiddled with security systems and made phone calls, he never allowed Raizel's brother to slip out of his sight. The other Cadis stood by the front door, looking for all the world as though he might vanish if left unobserved. Or perhaps that was just Frankenstein’s scars weighing on him in the face of such a familiar vision. </p><p> </p><p>Regardless, he didn't bother to grab an umbrella when the Noble suddenly decided to step out of his home, his oppressive aura leaking behind him almost visibly to someone of Frankenstein’s attunement. </p><p> </p><p>It didn't change anything. Frankenstein had once lost a man who carried a piece of his own thrice-damned soul, a man who could call out and direct him at any moment, who he could feel in the back of his brain like the nagging reminder of something he'd forgotten. Keeping his Master's seal from this creature did little to improve his confidence in keeping track of him. </p><p> </p><p>He quietly tucked away his phone and swept out into the drizzle after his lead. Away from Chairman Lee's life and back towards his true one. </p><p> </p><p>The other Cadis lingered in the street for a moment, seemingly in contemplation. And then he was gone, moving faster than any normal human was likely to notice. Frankenstein trailed Raizel's brother as he would have his own Master. As he should have, if only he'd known. </p><p> </p><p>This type of direct action suited Frankenstein. In the wake of his strange encounter and his reawakening desperation, moving forward felt like the only thing left. </p><p> </p><p>He had scarcely been living for his past span of years, complacently carrying out every stray dream or passion he could still manage to grasp. His hope wasn't a hope at all. And what had he been expecting, really? For his Master to someday just walk back into his life? Whole and hale and still desirous of his company? But no, that type of reward took genuine effort. And connections. And research. And possibly access to a time machine, at this point - it had been a mistake to cordon himself off from his cast of potential leads. </p><p> </p><p>He had made many mistakes. But letting go of this final clue, even if it was entitled, disdainful, and potentially a threat he would need to eliminate - he refused to let that be counted among them. </p><p> </p><p>When at last they came to a stop, it was on the outskirts of a bustling port town. Frankenstein, expectant and wary, tried his best to take in everything at once, desperate for any scrap of evidence. His aura bristled and his hair curled in the oppressive humidity. Gulls circled and cried. Cranes lifted massive shipping containers onto freight barges through the briny air. </p><p> </p><p>His link lay empty and cold.</p><p> </p><p>Expecting no real answers from his companion, Franken nonetheless turned to him, observing intently as he stared into the sea. </p><p> </p><p>A compact truck edged irritably around them, and bicyclist gestured rudely from the other direction. Clouds began to gather and darken, and the wind picked up. Smaller craft began to return to the harbor. </p><p> </p><p>At last Raizel's brother turned to Frankenstein. "I will see your bond once more." </p><p> </p><p>Franken slipped back several paces like a skittish cat, guard raised against a second intrusion, his weapon already muddying his soul against easy prying. "Why don't we discuss our arrangement, first. And I would like to know why you have brought us to this place. Has Master been here? What do you intend?"</p><p> </p><p>The Noble blinked flatly back at him. </p><p> </p><p>Dark Spear grew sluggish and sedated, his own consciousness narrowing down to twin points of red. Frankenstein gritted his teeth and held on, his will a point of pride that he refused to concede. </p><p> </p><p>At the edge of Franken's limit, the Noble bearing down on him pressed no further. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>"Your will belongs to Raizel; I will not break it. But refrain from accessing his powers and do not break his commands. If you insist on injuring yourself, I will leave you behind. Your value to me lies solely in your bond."</em>
</p><p> </p><p>He blinked, suddenly alone with Dark Spear's multitudinous voices decrying loudly their want for blood. Anyone's blood, really, though they largely directed their unsatiated claims toward their host and, unsurprisingly, at this showy newcomer. A creature who just so happened to taste a great deal like a lingering infatuation. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>So Raizel has a brother? We wonder why he never told you… Or ussss… Was he withholding secrets? Does your Master not trusssst you? Must not, if he abandon--</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Disgust rose like bile, and he took a moment to contain his Lover, still standing in the middle of a narrow alley in an unfamiliar city filled with unhappy humans and smelling heavily of fish and crude oil. </p><p> </p><p>Then, pushing back a dozen taboos, mostly regarding the idea of physically forcing his Master and his own ideas of personal space, Frankenstein reached out and grasped at the Noble's sleeve. Firmly guiding him away from traffic while making the small statement to himself that this being was touchable and not deserving of deference, especially in light of such intrusions. Obeying once did not make him obedient. </p><p> </p><p>The other Noblesse followed mechanically and without complaint, his expression unreadable. </p><p> </p><p>Frankenstein led them both to the edge of a wharf, angling in the direction that had held his companion's gaze. He stopped at the point at which they might step into the ocean, their words lost to any prying humans by the churning of the sea. "And your value lies in your ability to read it. Although…," he paused, looking around for emphasis, "Your worth to me has yet to be proven. Why are we <em>here</em>?" </p><p> </p><p>The other Cadis' lips pulled faintly, his gaze falling back to the water. To nothing. </p><p> </p><p>After a long moment he quietly spoke, almost startling the blonde who hadn't truly hoped for a response. "He was here when I last traced the bond. If he was awake then I would not require your assistance to locate him." The eyes of two prideful creatures locked, and the command could almost be interpreted as a plea by one who could not abide commandments. "Allow me access, and this time do not attempt to destroy the connection."</p><p> </p><p>Frankenstein frowned. The connection? How <em>dare</em> he suggest-- </p><p> </p><p><em>Oh</em>. </p><p> </p><p>Well, he had already known that he was Raizel's <em>connection </em>of sorts<em>, </em>though putting it in such a way filled his stomach with ice and he couldn't quite bring himself to inquire about the phrasing. </p><p> </p><p>He nodded quietly instead, his eyes trained to salt-stained concrete as he grudgingly altered the mental barriers that had grown habitual with time. </p><p> </p><p>Exposing his bond filled him with a deep unease. Dark Spear whispered softly of what they would do to his Master if given half the chance, what a <em>stranger</em> was liable to do. Their presence lingered at the edges of his consciousness, a penance for breaking his Master's command. </p><p> </p><p>The intrusion this time was quiet and swift. The weight pressed in and around him, cut straight through to his bond. He was still for a moment, and then it was over. He restored his barriers to separate Dark Spear from all he had left of Raizel. </p><p> </p><p>Cadis turned away, his gaze now fixed across the sea and to the north. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Edian</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Edian Drosia had once been in love, as the humans might have said it. Some might label such sentiments as frivolous, and to her kind, most of them were.</p><p> </p><p>Decade after decade, century after century, she had pined after the object of her affections. She paid small visits and brought small offerings. She made herself a fixture of the Lord's court, and so came to know of his identity. </p><p> </p><p>And then one day, he had faltered during judgment - a bright line of blood running down his pretty face, sweat and blood and other such signs of a human body's failure, <em> almost unheard of in a noble </em>, weighing down the slight waves in his hair. </p><p> </p><p>On the spot, the Lord's countenance grew dark, as though something much more sinister than a cloud had blotted out the very sun. His commands that day were unprecedented, a strange combination of kindness and cruelty. </p><p> </p><p>And it was as though a ray of hope had broken through the darkness and was shining down, just for her. Freed from his title and responsibilities, what she craved might now be possible. </p><p>
  <br/>
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</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Edian Drosia had long since outlived her purpose, and the bulk of her usefulness. It was a twist of fate, now, that she found herself waking up on the cold tile floor. That she found herself anywhere at all, really. </p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Toy</h2></a>
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    <p>There had been no chance to rest, no allowances made for such human needs as food and drink. For Frankenstein, this was to his preference. In all likelihood, his Master's <em>brother</em> already knew this, or perhaps he simply did not care. </p><p> </p><p>Regardless, the two cut through the night, leaving behind the storms of the day before and the very country in which Frankenstein had been sheltering. When the day broke, soft sunlight traced the low concrete buildings of a compound, emerging gracelessly from the cover of island flora. </p><p> </p><p>"--But it was so <em>pretty</em> and she didn't even let me get a good look! I showed her my <em>babies</em>, and she didn't share her new toy with me?? I don't understand how she thinks she can do this. She's nothing but a two-bit screw-around; she ruins everything she touches. Yuri, have you <em>seen</em> the titan? It's <em>hideous</em>, I--"</p><p> </p><p>Frankenstein’s head whipped around to catch a glimpse of flashing glasses and a frivolously dressed woman boarding a helicopter. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Pretty new toy? </em>
</p><p> </p><p>His numbness gave way to something much more acute. He swallowed at nothing, the dry lump in his throat almost painful. </p><p> </p><p>Mentally, he shook himself. Perhaps they were talking about something (<em>Someone</em>, Dark Spear pointedly interjected) else. This was no time for speculation, and so he fixed his sights again on Cadis. </p><p> </p><p>Frankenstein’s heart skipped a beat, fear threatening to paralyze him entirely, blue eyes refusing to shutter in case some crucial detail might be missed. The slim silhouette was nowhere to be found. </p><p> </p><p>Cadis, the other Cadis, was gone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Chapters 7 and 8 came out together, I hope that wasn't confusing.</p>
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